Girls 17’s Red-3 White-3

What a great start to the Final 54 Weekend with a complete back-and-forth volley of goals between the Red and White teams.  Madison Demarasis from Sartell/Sauk Rapids saw 18 shots in the first half only getting scored on once by Reilly Springman from Elk River/Zimmerman to bring the white team up 1-0.  The second half proved to be filled with much more action between both teams—5 goals were scored between them and the red team started hitting the net more aggressively!  Ten minutes into the second half, Erin Olson from Lakeville North put the red team on the board on a great pass from Isabel Daniel (Blake).  Ali Beltz (New Ulm) answered back five minutes later to put the red team back on top…but not for long.  Ramsey Parent (Blaine) scored the next TWO goals for the red team now putting them in the lead until a sweet feed from Madeline Wethington (Blake) to Lolita Fidler (Edina) ties up the game with only two minutes left!

Girls 16’s Blue-2 White-3

Talk about a well-matched game!  Both teams put 28 shots on net making this a great goaltending adventure.  The first half was extremely exciting with four goals getting scored. Adelaide Burton (Blake) put the blue team on the board first with a perfectly placed and unassisted goal.  The white team answered back, and continued knocking at the door until the end of the first half scoring the next three goals.  To tie the game at 1-1, Currie Putrah (Shattuck-St. Mary’s) assisted by Jenna Hartung (Burnsville) and Addi Schibner (East Ridge), made scoring look easy.  These girls passed the puck and read the play perfectly.  The second white goal was an unassisted beauty by Katherina Boland (Northfield) to put white up 2-1 with 8:34 left in the first half.  Three minutes later, here comes Bailey Burton (Bloomington Jefferson) on a feed from Gabrielle Rud (St. Cloud) and Mannon McMahon (Maple Grove).  The first half ended with white on top by a score of 3-1.

The second half also saw 28 shots, but only one of them landed in the sweet spot scoring a goal for the blue team with 5:48 left in the game.  Ramsey Parent (Blaine) read this one right anf handed the puck off to Adelaide Burton (Blake) yet again to send it home.

Girls 17’s White-4 Blue-2

There is nothing like a good, energetic hockey game, and this one was just that with six goals being scored and seven penalties assessed between the two teams.  The white team dominated the first half with their first goal coming just 1:17 seconds into the game on a goal by Kenzie Hauswirth (Shattuck-St. Mary’s) assisted by Ali Beltz (New Ulm).  Madison Tix (Blake) put the white team up 2-0, and Sadie Peart (Grand Rapids/Greenway) finished up the half by taking them up 3-0.

The white team continued their scoring spree with 8:38 to go in the second half on another goal by Madison Tix this time from Alexandra Clark (Hill-Murray). 

The blue team gets into the game with 3:52 as Samantha Burke (St. Paul United) sends the puck to Annika Brodt (Mounds View) who hands it off to Haylee Blinkhorn (Hill-Murray) for the score.  This is what teamwork is all about, ladies!  Sarah McClanahan (Blake) scores the final goal of the game on a lift from Savanna Atol (Edina) and she doesn’t even realize the puck ended up in the net! 

16’s Red-2 Blue-1

When goaltender Elli Strettmater (Edina) takes 17 shots on net and only one goes in during the first half, a whole different level of play is created and both teams step it up.  This was exactly the case in game 4!  Paige Anderson (Andover) on a dual assist from Sydney Breza (Shattuck-St. Mary’s) and Olivia Mobley (Breck) put the only score on the board for the board for the first half.

Team red put the second score up as well taking their team to a 2-0 lead with 11:70 to go in the half when Paige Anderson (Andover) AGAIN took a pass from Kailey Langefels (Minnetonka) and Abigail Delarosa (White Bear Lake) to make this game seem like there would be a shutout.

But a shutout was not to be had when with :12 seconds left in the game, blue’s Olivia Smallbrock (Dodge County) on a beautiful, unassisted goal, put her team on the scoreboard. This goal was a perfect example of shooting the puck until it goes in.

Girls 17’s Blue-1 Red-2

As Day 1 winds down, these girls are starting to get tired from being on the ice for two games, and who could blame them?  But that assumption is not the case in game 5 where in the first half alone, these two teams put 27 shots on goal and only allowing one in.  Superb goaltending and superb skating made that only unassisted goal Isable Daniel (Blake), with only :07 left in the half one of the sweetest of the day.  The motto for this half is to keep working at it and eventually you succeed.

Urgency and passion were high in the second half and it showed in penalties as these girls did everything they could to shut down their opponent. 

Sarah McClanahan (Blake) was the first to score in this half with another unassisted goal at 14:41which tied this match up again.  However, two minute later, on a pass from Grace Heiting (East Ridge) to Madison Bizal (Elk River/Zimmerman) the red team pulls out in front and it would remain as such until the end.  But what a battle of grit and determination for these two teams!

Girls 16’s White-4 Red-5

The last game of the Day 1was crazy fun with a total of 9 goals between these two teams (6 coming in the action-packed second half) three penalties, and the weekend’s first shootout to declare a winner.  It may have been a 7:50 pm start time, but these girls sure didn’t act like they were tired!

The first half brought in just two of the 9 goals, both coming from the red team.  Marissa Agerter (Farmington) had one heck of a great unassisted goal at 7:37 and Brinna Martin (North WR County) assisted by Madison Mashuga (Anoka) and Jenna Hoops (St. Paul United) followed up shortly thereafter.

But here comes the second half where Currie Putrah (Shattuck-St. Mary’s) scores 1:36 into the period putting the white team within a goal, but less than two minutes later, Sophie Schuster (Stillwater) makes that tie official.  It is now 2-2.

Unfortunately for the white team, the tie is short-lived when Sophie Rausch (Fergus Falls) starts the volleying between these two teams and puts red back up on top 3-2. Now it’s white’s turn to answer back and tie up the game on a well-played goal by Mannon McMahon (Maple Grove) and then back to team red’s Marissa Agerter (Farmington) again less than a minute later. Back into team white’s court and they respond in kind four minutes later when Gabrielle Rud (St. Cloud) ties it up yet again 4-4.

As the clock winds down, both teams do whatever they can to take back the lead, but to no avail.  This game is going into a shootout!  And in the spirit of the last 48 minutes, this shootout was also going to be a battle.  After the first five shots, red’s Olivia Mobley (Breck) finally eludes the goalie to win the game for team red!

What a GREAT way to end the day!